This was a movie I heard about on NPR a few months back starring Christian Bale and Steve Zahn. It never received much attention at the box office or when it released on DVD, but it was pretty damned good, and it's a true story to boot.

It's about a navy pilot who gets shot down on a bombing run in Vietnam and is captured by Vietcong and held prisoner for several months? Years? I don't know. It wasn't clear. He had it rough though in Laos.

I won't give it away but it's a pretty cut and dried story of a pilot hero and his escape from enemy captivity. Christian Bale does an excellent job playing Dieter Dengler, just like the rest of his heralded roles (Batman Begins, American Pyscho, The Machinist.)

The flying footage is pretty brief, but it's cool nonetheless.

I downloaded it but it can probably be found on DVD through Netflix on Blockbuster.

There is a documentary by the same director with Dengler filmed prior to his death. It is called "Little Dieter has to Fly" It is with Dieter taking you back to his home in WWII Germany all the way to actually going back to Laos. It is an outstanding film.

After watching the film I did some internet searching to find out more about him. I had not heard his story before while active duty. It seems there is some controversy with the movie and how Hollywood and this director protrayed some of the people. Go figure.

Any way the documentary is definitely worth a look! It is an incredible story how he escapes, survives, and is finally found. Especially the first few minutes are very interesting.

Dieter Dengler and his brother Martin were my roommates in college.
Dieter was the first POW to escape from North Vietnam after months in captivity. Not only was Dieter a great pilot he was a true survivalist.
Growing up in southern Germany he learned to hunt and eat from the forests
and was definitely a "can do" kind of guy. He appeared in a picture on the cover of Life Magazine that was shot from his rescue helicopter. He was down to 97 lbs at the time.
We had received notice that he had been shot and MIA, but those that knew him well were not surprised to hear of his escape.
He went on to fly for TWA and later retired to live in the San Francisco Bay
Area on top of Mt. Tamalpias overlooking the pacific.
He died a few years ago from lukemia.
The documentary film producer, Werner Hertzog, did a film of Dieter called
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) which is just as interesting as the movie and more telling about the man

I saw a trailer for it on TV just last night...said the DVD would be on sale starting November 20th...hey, that is today. It looked like it would be a great movie...after reading these posts I will have to add it to my ever growing collection.

1SeventyZ wrote:
I downloaded it

Zane:

You got all the cool stuff

I just called a video store and the kid never heard of it.

I guess Ill wait until I can make a trip to the city

Anyone who PM's me can permanently "borrow" my copy.

Amazing that you knew the guy RedRyder...pretty cool. I felt that wave of emotion in the end of the movie that signals being a big soft man-wussy, so you know it's good.

Redryder thanks for correcting me on the film title. Because it is really one to watch.

I wish I could have met him. I am in awe of the inner strength of people who went thru what happened to him. His story and life were truely amazing.